French authorities have detained two senior crew members of an oil tanker immobilized off the country’s Atlantic coast, a vessel President Emmanuel Macron has linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet used to evade Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
The prosecutor in Brest, Stéphane Kellenberger, said Thursday that the men, who identified themselves as the ship’s captain and chief mate, have been in custody since at least Wednesday. A preliminary investigation was opened for “refusal to cooperate” and “failure to justify the nationality of the vessel” after maritime officials alerted prosecutors earlier this week.
The ship, whose name and registration have changed multiple times, was sailing under a Benin flag and is already listed under European Union sanctions. Naval experts previously identified it as possibly connected to suspicious drone flights near Denmark.
French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet confirmed that a team of navy commandos boarded the tanker “in line with international law” after discrepancies emerged between its declared and real nationality. The ship remains anchored in a designated safe area off Saint-Nazaire while the inquiry continues.
Macron, speaking at a European summit in Copenhagen, praised the navy’s actions and underscored the wider significance. “You kill the business model by detaining these vessels and forcing them to reorganize,” he said, adding that Russia’s shadow fleet finances “30 to 40 percent” of Moscow’s war effort—amounting to more than €30 billion annually.
The tanker, previously known under names including “Kiwala,” “Pushpa,” and “Boracay,” left the Russian port of Primorsk on Sept. 20 before sailing along Denmark’s coast and anchoring in France. Earlier this year, Estonian forces detained the same vessel for similar violations involving its flag.
Moscow has denied direct links to the case. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he had “no information” about the ship but accused Western governments of “provocative actions” against Russia.
The so-called shadow fleet is made up of aging tankers, often purchased by opaque companies in non-sanctioning countries and flagged under permissive registries, allowing Russian oil exporters to sidestep the G7-imposed price cap.
